JNU sexual harassment complainants condemn ABVP 'politicisation', say case was hijacked

The complainants in the sexual harassment case against Jawaharlal Nehru University professor and Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam have condemned what they called the "politicisation and hijacking" of their case by the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, saying the student body created a "public spectacle" without the consent of any of them.

In an unsigned letter, the complainants said the case was registered internally with the university's Internal Committee (IC) and required confidentiality to be maintained. They alleged that the ABVP "spread misinformation regarding the case even before the enquiry was concluded" and that its members went on news channels and "spoke about the case with authority without informing or taking the consent of the complainants."

"This created a hostile environment for the complainants on campus where their agency was completely neglected and classified private information about their complaint was sensationalised," the letter said. "They have done this for their own political agenda, not because they are feminists or guardians of women's issues."

The letter further alleged that before the complaint was filed, students associated with the ABVP discouraged the complainants from filing it, went behind their backs to speak to the professor, and asked them to accept his "lousy apology". It also claimed that screenshots from the complainants' classroom group chat, discussing their experiences of sexual harassment, were leaked and published by OpIndia.

"This raises a genuine concern about who could've been behind such a huge breach of confidentiality," the letter said.

It named NDTV, Republic TV, Times of India, OpIndia and News18 as having published "unverified information about the case", and said students were messaged and called personally and harassed for information by some media publications.

"We want to reiterate this with absolute clarity that we do not feel comfortable and strongly condemn ABVP's constant attempt to make this issue a left vs right issue, when in fact, this is an issue of women's safety and sexual harassment through misuse of authority," the complainants said, adding that they had not asked any political organisation to help them and had "vehemently refused politicisation".

JNU dismissed Akoijam, the Congress Lok Sabha member from Inner Manipur, on October 10 following an IC inquiry. The dismissal order, signed by Vice-Chancellor Santishree D. Pandit, said the committee had recommended "Major Punishment". According to earlier reports, 11 female students had accused him of sexual harassment.

Akoijam was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2024. Before entering Parliament he taught social and political psychology and cultural studies at JNU's Centre for the Study of Social Systems.